Unlike previous seasons, this year of Oregon baseball feels less about opportunity and more about expectation. 

“This group has unlimited ability,” Carter Garate, Oregon’s third baseman, said after a win over The University of Toledo. He’s not just hyping up his teammates, he’s right. 

The 2025 Oregon Ducks are loaded with talent young and old. They boast several personnel options at almost every position on the field. 

They’re also one of only five teams to have made the Super Regional round in each of the past two seasons. Oregon, however, is the only team to have finished in the top 16 in back-to-back seasons without hosting a regional. 

That’s the expectation this year: to play postseason baseball at PK Park. 

Sounds simple enough, and competing in a weak Big Ten Conference — Oregon was one of only two Big Ten teams (Nebraska) to start the season ranked — should help head coach Mark Wasikowski’s squad achieve its mission. 

But it’ll require something that previous teams didn’t always have: incredible depth and the ability to win in different ways. 

One quality of a great time is being able to find victory on a day where the bats are cold or the wings on the mound are struggling to record outs. That’s something Wasikowski’s squad is highlighting this season. 

“You’ve gotta be able to win in a lot of different ways,” Wasikowksi said after a win over The University of Rhode Island. “You’ve gotta be able to win by hitting the ball over the fence; you’ve gotta be able to win by bunting sometimes or stealing a base.”

It’s early in the season, but so far, the Ducks have shown that they can do just that. Entering conference play, Oregon had more shutout wins (three) than total losses (two) while tallying seven games with nine or more runs scored. 

In perhaps the most extreme examples of winning in different ways, the Ducks found victory both in a 1-0, 11-inning marathon with Rhode Island and with a 35-1 win over Columbia University that saw them set a new program record in runs scored. 

“It’s early,” Garate said of his team’s identity. “I think we’re still trying to figure it out. I don’t really think you can put a cap on one thing. We can come at you many different ways with our pitching staff and offense.”

With as much power as Wasikowski’s team has, he doesn’t want them to be limited or categorized by it. He even mentioned after a game against Toledo — in which his Ducks hit seven homers — that he wishes there would have been more singles to put guys on base before the long balls. 

But it seems that nothing makes him happier than his pitching staff throwing a zero on the scoreboard. After all, a team can’t lose if it never gives up a run.

No matter how the Ducks choose to win their games on any given day, they have seemingly countless guys that can make it happen. This 2025 Oregon squad has incredible depth all over the field. 

In conference play, the Ducks will only need three starting pitchers, but they’ve got five guys — Grayson Grinsell, Collin Clarke, Jason Reitz, Will Sanford and Ian Umlandt — that have already made starts in 2025. Oregon has options on the bump.

Behind the dish, Wasikowski can turn to any one of Chase Meggers, Anson Aroz, Burke-Lee Mabeus and Coen Niclai with full confidence. 

The same can be said in the outfield. When fully healthy, the Ducks can roll out Mason Neville, Aroz, Jeffery Heard, Parker Stinson, Drew Smith, Jack Brooks, Jax Gimenez or Mabeus. The PK Park outfield will be safe all season long no matter who gets the nod from Wasikowski. 

But, the area with the most depth might be the middle infield. Already this season, Maddox Molony, Smith, Brooks, Ryan Cooney and Tyler Jones have seen time at either shortstop or second base. 

“It’s just really special to have a bunch of guys who love each other and work together,” Cooney said of the competition in the middle infield. “I think it just makes each of us better to be honest. All of us have great ability and love each other in different ways as teammates and I think (we) just push each other to be better, and I think you’ll see that throughout the season.”

“We’re all very athletic people,” Molony said. “It’s cool seeing the guys I work with every day have success.”

Molony will almost certainly have the shortstop position locked up as long as he remains healthy. His counterpart across the way at second base, however, remains to be seen.

Smith is a great bat to have in the lineup when he’s available, but Cooney’s been smacking the cover off the ball early in 2025. Brooks is a wonderful utility option, and will likely see sporadic starts throughout midweek games and non-conference contests. 

With temporary injuries and hot streaks moving guys in and out of the lineup, the early-season consistency that the Ducks have shown is all that more impressive. All season long, there’s been power hitters at the top of the lineup and high-average guys at the bottom.

“Me and Cooney have a thing where we call ourselves the ‘eight/nine merchants’,” Garate said. “It’s our job to get on base and let the top of the order drive us in.”

This team is stacked and has high aspirations. Unlike programs ready for a rebuild or a revival, Oregon’s been a game or two away from Omaha two years running. This year, the Ducks feel like they can get there with their unlimited ability and versatility. 

“I would say that there’s things to improve on for sure,” Garate said. “But I think we’ve set a good stone to build on.”

For Garate to say his team is still building after back-to-back Super Regional appearances is a bold statement, but it matches the one that his Ducks look to make in their first Big Ten season.

The post Turning expectation into opportunity appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Unlike previous seasons, this year of Oregon baseball feels less about opportunity and more about expectation. 

“This group has unlimited ability,” Carter Garate, Oregon’s third baseman, said after a win over The University of Toledo. He’s not just hyping up his teammates, he’s right. 

The 2025 Oregon Ducks are loaded with talent young and old. They boast several personnel options at almost every position on the field. 

They’re also one of only five teams to have made the Super Regional round in each of the past two seasons. Oregon, however, is the only team to have finished in the top 16 in back-to-back seasons without hosting a regional. 

That’s the expectation this year: to play postseason baseball at PK Park. 

Sounds simple enough, and competing in a weak Big Ten Conference — Oregon was one of only two Big Ten teams (Nebraska) to start the season ranked — should help head coach Mark Wasikowski’s squad achieve its mission. 

But it’ll require something that previous teams didn’t always have: incredible depth and the ability to win in different ways. 

One quality of a great time is being able to find victory on a day where the bats are cold or the wings on the mound are struggling to record outs. That’s something Wasikowski’s squad is highlighting this season. 

“You’ve gotta be able to win in a lot of different ways,” Wasikowksi said after a win over The University of Rhode Island. “You’ve gotta be able to win by hitting the ball over the fence; you’ve gotta be able to win by bunting sometimes or stealing a base.”

It’s early in the season, but so far, the Ducks have shown that they can do just that. Entering conference play, Oregon had more shutout wins (three) than total losses (two) while tallying seven games with nine or more runs scored. 

In perhaps the most extreme examples of winning in different ways, the Ducks found victory both in a 1-0, 11-inning marathon with Rhode Island and with a 35-1 win over Columbia University that saw them set a new program record in runs scored. 

“It’s early,” Garate said of his team’s identity. “I think we’re still trying to figure it out. I don’t really think you can put a cap on one thing. We can come at you many different ways with our pitching staff and offense.”

With as much power as Wasikowski’s team has, he doesn’t want them to be limited or categorized by it. He even mentioned after a game against Toledo — in which his Ducks hit seven homers — that he wishes there would have been more singles to put guys on base before the long balls. 

But it seems that nothing makes him happier than his pitching staff throwing a zero on the scoreboard. After all, a team can’t lose if it never gives up a run.

No matter how the Ducks choose to win their games on any given day, they have seemingly countless guys that can make it happen. This 2025 Oregon squad has incredible depth all over the field. 

In conference play, the Ducks will only need three starting pitchers, but they’ve got five guys — Grayson Grinsell, Collin Clarke, Jason Reitz, Will Sanford and Ian Umlandt — that have already made starts in 2025. Oregon has options on the bump.

Behind the dish, Wasikowski can turn to any one of Chase Meggers, Anson Aroz, Burke-Lee Mabeus and Coen Niclai with full confidence. 

The same can be said in the outfield. When fully healthy, the Ducks can roll out Mason Neville, Aroz, Jeffery Heard, Parker Stinson, Drew Smith, Jack Brooks, Jax Gimenez or Mabeus. The PK Park outfield will be safe all season long no matter who gets the nod from Wasikowski. 

But, the area with the most depth might be the middle infield. Already this season, Maddox Molony, Smith, Brooks, Ryan Cooney and Tyler Jones have seen time at either shortstop or second base. 

“It’s just really special to have a bunch of guys who love each other and work together,” Cooney said of the competition in the middle infield. “I think it just makes each of us better to be honest. All of us have great ability and love each other in different ways as teammates and I think (we) just push each other to be better, and I think you’ll see that throughout the season.”

“We’re all very athletic people,” Molony said. “It’s cool seeing the guys I work with every day have success.”

Molony will almost certainly have the shortstop position locked up as long as he remains healthy. His counterpart across the way at second base, however, remains to be seen.

Smith is a great bat to have in the lineup when he’s available, but Cooney’s been smacking the cover off the ball early in 2025. Brooks is a wonderful utility option, and will likely see sporadic starts throughout midweek games and non-conference contests. 

With temporary injuries and hot streaks moving guys in and out of the lineup, the early-season consistency that the Ducks have shown is all that more impressive. All season long, there’s been power hitters at the top of the lineup and high-average guys at the bottom.

“Me and Cooney have a thing where we call ourselves the ‘eight/nine merchants’,” Garate said. “It’s our job to get on base and let the top of the order drive us in.”

This team is stacked and has high aspirations. Unlike programs ready for a rebuild or a revival, Oregon’s been a game or two away from Omaha two years running. This year, the Ducks feel like they can get there with their unlimited ability and versatility. 

“I would say that there’s things to improve on for sure,” Garate said. “But I think we’ve set a good stone to build on.”

For Garate to say his team is still building after back-to-back Super Regional appearances is a bold statement, but it matches the one that his Ducks look to make in their first Big Ten season.

The post Turning expectation into opportunity appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Remember the Pac-12? Yeah, we do too. Do you miss it? Well, with Oregon’s cross-sport successes in the Big Ten Conference, maybe you don’t. But, for old time’s sake, let’s take a look at how the “Conference of Champions” would have shaped out if its former teams hadn’t been scattered in the messy conference divorce. 

Leading the Pac — UCLA, Arizona, Oregon and Stanford

Three of these should be no big surprise. The Wildcats, Ducks and Bruins were staples of the Pac-12’s top teams over the past decade. Frankly, it may have been more surprising to see a major falloff from any of those recent powerhouses. 

The shocker comes from Stanford. With the Atlantic Coast Conference often considered to be one of college basketball’s best, the Cardinal’s solid season that saw them in the top half of the ACC standings speaks volumes to the job that Stanford head coach Kyle Smith has done in his first year at the helm. 

Had we been gifted with a Pac-12 Tournament this season, it’s entirely possible that these would have been our final four teams. Alas, at least three of them will likely make the National Tournament, bringing delight and rooting interest from West Coast fans. 

Middle of the road — Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Utah

These four squads all found themselves around the midway point of their respective conference standings. After joining the West Coast Conference (at least, for basketball), the Beavers and Cougars claimed the fifth and sixth seeds in the WCC Tournament. Utah’s first year in the Big 12 Conference wasn’t one to dwell much on in either direction and Cal — while not terrible — wasn’t able to quite muster Stanford’s success in the ACC. 

Maybe, the new travel was harder on teams than expected. Maybe, they had to adjust to new styles of play against new competition. Or, perhaps most likely, those four squads just weren’t that good in 2025. In a Pac-12 Tournament, maybe one of these teams could have made some noise, but it’s more likely that they’d have faced quick exits in Vegas. 

In the basement — Washington, USC, Colorado, Arizona State

There were certainly some surprises here. It’s rare to see the Trojans struggle like they did this year, the Buffaloes were in the Pac-12 Title Game just a season ago and a road game in Tempe would often spell disaster for any team. 

Not this year! These teams struggled mightily in 2025. Washington and USC failed to make the Big Ten Tournament while the Buffaloes and Sun Devils claimed the bottom two spots in the 16-team Big 12 standings. Disastrous seasons from what used to be formidable foes on the West Coast may have fans reminiscent of the Pac-12. 

Had these four teams made a hypothetical Pac-12 Tournament, their opponents may have been able to consider the Buffs, Devils, Trojans and Huskies a first-round bye. 

Maybe, someday, the best teams on the West Coast will reconcile and be in the same conference. Until then, all we have are hypotheticals and memories. 

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For the first time ever, 18 teams vied for supremacy in the Big Ten and surprisingly, they all had a mixed bag of results. With the regular season behind us, let’s treat this like it’s high school and dish out some end-of-year superlatives!

Most likely to win it all — Michigan State

The Spartans were the Big Ten’s top team and highlighted their season by beating their rival on the road. Michigan State is a program that’s always dangerous in March and may be the Big Ten’s best chance at a national championship in 2025.

Most likely to take a long look in the mirror — Rutgers

How does a team with two consensus first-round NBA Draft picks spend most of the season fighting for a spot in a 14-team conference tournament? That’s embarrassing no matter how you put it and the Scarlet Knights need to do some serious self-reflection.

Most likely to dream of past pastures — Washington and USC

A two-for-one? You betcha! Two of Oregon’s biggest rivals — that the Ducks were so kind to bring with them to the Big Ten — probably wish they would have stayed in the Pac-12. The Trojans and the Huskies were both dumpster-fire programs in the Big Ten, winning less than a dozen combined conference games. Oh well, winning isn’t for everyone. These two squads made sure of it!

Most likely to get heartbroken in March — Maryland

The poor Terrapins had to suffer three different buzzer-beater losses in conference play this season, leading me to believe that when the end of the line comes for Maryland, it will be merciless and brutal for fans in College Park, Maryland. 

Most likely to recruit like crazy — Purdue

A lot of people thought the Boilermakers would take a massive step back after the departure of Zach Edey, but the falloff wasn’t overly extreme. Purdue stayed toward the top of one of college basketball’s best conferences and will be a major threat in the national tournament. A team that proves it can win even in “down years” will surely attract a good amount of incoming talent. 

Most likely to pull a big upset — Oregon

At one point in the season, the Ducks were ranked as a top-10 team. While their fall from grace was rapid, it now allows them to play spoiler from an overlooked spot from this point on. Oregon is red-hot and playing some of its best ball. The Ducks aren’t a team anyone is excited to face right now, and could prove troublesome for a contender’s championship aspirations.  

Most likely to turn heads in the tournament — Illinois

It seems that every time I check on a meaningful Illini game, they’re blowing out a good opponent scoring an avalanche of buckets. Illinois loves to put up big point totals, and that’s something that could win the orange and blue a lot of hearts in the tournament. 

Most likely to have their season completely forgotten — Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota

What weird fever dreams these teams all had. They weren’t good enough to do anything overly memorable, but they aren’t completely in the basement of the Big Ten. They just kind of sat in a weird purgatory limbo and likely won’t be thought of again after you finish reading this article. 

Most likely to end up overhyped in the tournament — UCLA

Los Angeles market? Unimpressive conference record? Big brand? Check, check, check! I see UCLA as a team that ruins a lot of brackets after people listen to the “experts” that like the Bruins for their history or their colors. 

The post Ruth: Big Ten Superlatives appeared first on Daily Emerald.

The Ducks are perfect in conference play no more.

A poor third frame haunted No. 9 Oregon (17-4, 5-1 Big Ten) as untimely errors and walks led to a 9-1 Gophers win as Minnesota (8-10, 2-4 Big Ten) avoided the series sweep.

A game originally slated for 12:05 p.m. didn’t get underway until 5:20 p.m. thanks to a lengthy rainstorm and an abundance of delays. When it finally got going, Jack Spanier roped the first pitch of the contest into right to give the Gophers an early scoring chance. 

The opportunity got better after Oregon starter Will Sanford walked back-to-back hitters to load the bases with one out, prompting an early mound meeting. The conference worked, however, as Parker Knoll grounded into a double play to allow Sanford to miraculously escape his jam. 

The Ducks also loaded the bases in the first with a pair of singles (Dominic Hellman and Jacob Walsh) and a walk, but Anson Aroz’s flyout to right ended the threat as the two squads combined to leave five runners on base in the first. 

“They got out of a couple of jams,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “We had a bases-loaded situation that they were able to wiggle out of. I thought that was a big momentum play.”

Charlie Sutherland and Jake Larson recorded back-to-back hits in the top of the second to give Minnesota the first lead of the game. Sanford stranded Larson at third with a pair of strikeouts, but allowed four five men to reach in just his first two innings. 

Two more Sanford-issued walks and a Jake Elbeery single loaded the bases again for the Gophers in the third. This time, there was no escape act from Sanford, who relented another walk to gift Minnesota a free run. The walk — Sanford’s fifth of the day — ended his day early. He finished with 2.1 innings, allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits and fanned four across his 77 pitches (39 strikes).

“It didn’t look like he was handling the conditions today,” Wasikowski said. “I thought the first few days of the series, we had some tough conditions that our pitchers handled and I don’t think Will handled them today.”

Seth Mattox took over, but allowed another pair of runs to cross on Ryan Cooney’s second error of the series before walking another hitter. He was quickly pulled after throwing just 10 pitches for Ian Umlandt. Maddox Molony made an error of his own at short on a play that allowed two runs to score and extended the frame long enough for six total runs to cross in the third. 

The No. 9 Ducks faced a massive hole as they looked to remain unbeaten in conference play. It would be one they couldn’t work out of. 

Minnesota’s pitching staff had the Ducks guessing all night. Starter Noah Rooney went four innings and fanned five while relenting only three hits. He struck-out the side in his final frame before turning the pitching duties over to Tyler Hemmesch, who punched out the first two batters he faced. 

“They did a good job throwing strikes, mixing pitches, keeping us off balance” Wasikowski said. 

Oregon struck-out eight times in its first conference loss of the season and only had one hit past the second inning. Hellman had two of the Ducks’ four hits. 

The Ducks’ pitching staff calmed down after the second inning. Umlandt finished with three Ks and no runs across his 2.2 innings and Jaxon Jordan struck-out the side in the sixth as a part of his two-inning, five-strikeout appearance. 

“Those guys threw really well,” Wasikowski said. “Those two pitchers gave us a chance… I thought they were outstanding, both of them.”

Jameson Martin crushed a solo shot in the top of the seventh for an unneeded, but loud insurance run. Oregon finally got on the board as Minnesota made a fielding error in the seventh. Minnesota responded with a run in the top of the eighth. 

The long delay pushed up against Minnesota’s flight time, so the game was called after the eighth inning. Oregon lost its first conference game in a shortened contest, but will still take a 5-1 Big Ten record into next weekend’s series with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

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The Ducks have found a knack for winning games in which they score early and lean on their pitching in the later innings. It happened again on Friday as No. 9 Oregon (16-3, 4-0 Big Ten) scored the game’s first five runs, but didn’t score after the third inning. Still, the Ducks were able to hold off the Gophers (7-9, 1-3 Big Ten) for a 5-2 series-opening win.

Oregon is now 1-0 in Big Ten Conference play at PK Park.

“It’s an awesome feeling bringing a new conference here,” Oregon catcher/outfielder Anson Aroz said. “And at the same time, it’s another baseball game that we’re really excited to play. Any opportunity we get to be on the field is a blessing.”

The early offense would be all the Ducks needed to down the Gophers, but a late push from Minnesota demonstrated how tense an environment can get when Oregon isn’t producing offensively for nine innings.

The rainy day didn’t spoil the Ducks’ Big Ten-winning streak, however, as Oregon found victory despite the awful conditions.

“It was fun,” Oregon starter Grayson Grinsell said. “Typical Eugene weather so nothing we’re not used to.” 

Minnesota starter Cole Selvig needed only six pitches to work a clean first inning, but unraveled in the second. He issued four free passes (two walks, two HBPs) and surrendered an RBI double to Aroz (2-4). A fielding error extended the sloppy frame and brought another run across as the Ducks took a 4-0 lead (only one earned run) in the second. 

Grinsell said the early lead didn’t change his approach on the mound at all. He said his job was the same: to go out and throw a shutout for his team. 

Maddox Molony added to the advantage an inning later with his sixth homer of the year — a solo shot to right that even the intense winds at PK Park couldn’t keep in.

“He had some really good at-bats,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “He’s just kind of a steady guy out there. He just kind of goes unnoticed. He’s kind of a softer-spoken guy out there, but he’s a big, strong, physical kid. I thought he played really well.”

Grinsell recorded five stellar frames to earn his third win of the season. Across his 88 pitches (52 strikes), he fanned seven (bringing him to 199 on his career), walked one and only allowed five hits. 

“I’ve got, I think, the best defense in the country behind me,” Grinsell said. “So I’m going to go out there and throw it over the plate.”

He got up to 92 mph on his fastball on Friday, finished a K away from a career milestone and had the Ducks in a great position for a win when he relented the pitching duties to Jason Reitz to start the sixth inning. 

“[Grinsell] pitched well,” Wasikowski said. “He handed the ball off to Jason [Reitz], and Jason threw the ball well. Cole [Stokes] finished the solid pitching effort.”

Selvig’s day lasted slightly longer than Grinsell’s, but he didn’t have the same success that Oregon’s lefty did. While Selvig did settle down a bit after his disastrous second frame, he still finished with five runs allowed (two earned) over 5.2 innings of work. He fanned three, but issued four free passes as he earned his second loss of the season.

Minnesota got to Reitz in the seventh win a string of three-straight hits that plated a pair of runs on Jack Spanier and Easton Richter RBI knocks. As the scarce fans stretched at PK Park, the Ducks’ lead was dwindling. They either needed an offensive response or the bullpen to lock it down. 

They got the latter, but only barely.

Minnesota turned up the drama in the ninth as both of its first two hitters reached to chase Reitz from the game. Cole Stokes took over and got his first man looking, but walked the second to load the bases with one away. 

He got a pop out and a strikeout to end the threat and the game. Oregon held on. 

Still, this recent string of wins in which the Ducks have jumped out to early leads and held on for dear life the rest of the way may not be the most sustainable path to victory. 

“Our job is to keep scoring no matter the inning,” Aroz said. “What we try to do is play inning by inning and win each one. We’re not happy when we stop scoring, but we do know that we have awesome pitchers… We’ve got guys that can put up zeros, but on our end, it’s unacceptable to stop scoring.”

But it’s working for now. Oregon gets another crack at the Gophers and goes for the series win in about 13 hours. 

Saturday’s contest — originally slated for 2:05 p.m. — has been moved up to 11:05 a.m. with hopes of getting it in (and possibly playing a doubleheader) before the worst weather of the weekend hits.

The post No. 9 Oregon baseball holds on for 5-2 win over Minnesota appeared first on Daily Emerald.

The Oregon Ducks may not play a harder five-game stretch the rest of the season than the one they just faced — and conquered — over the past week. 

Big Ten play finally started, but the Ducks’ first conference opponent was a familiar foe: USC. It’s entirely possible that the best teams in this year’s Big Ten are the newcomers from the West Coast. Oregon having to go on the road to face a pesky Trojans squad looked to be a challenge for Mark Wasikowski’s Ducks. 

Instead, Oregon swept USC on the road and outscored the Trojans 20-11. The Ducks — who entered the weekend as the 10th-ranked team in the nation — used some early offense to earn their first conference series win (and sweep) of the season. 

In the first game against USC, Oregon jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in its first three offensive innings. Mason Neville sent the second pitch of the game into the seats and the Ducks’ offense worked to bring across four more scrappy runs. When Grayson Grinsell excited after his five innings of four-hit, two-run ball, he was able to turn the ball over to Jason Reitz to go the rest of the way and protect the advantage. 

Game Two was an even larger example of team baseball. Oregon exploded offensively to score the contest’s first eight runs, but the bats went cold after the fifth inning and USC scored the game’s final six runs. We’ve learned this far, however, that any lead given to the Oregon bullpen is likely a safe one, and the Ducks escaped the nail-biter with the win. The bullpen allowed only two runs, snapping a 22-inning scoreless streak from the Oregon relievers. 

It wasn’t until Neville’s clutch go-ahead homer in the seventh inning of Game Three that the Ducks’ bats made an impact after the fifth inning of a game. Again, Oregon got ahead early with a two-run second, but blew its lead in a three-run sixth from the Trojans’ bats. 

Neville’s timely smash sparked a two-run frame that helped Oregon sweep a series it never trailed in. 

The weekend sweep moved the Ducks up to a No. 9 ranking for its two-game midweek series with the GCU Antelopes. 

Timely hitting evaded Oregon in Tuesday’s 4-2 loss, one that saw the Ducks strand 11 runners on base. Neville again led the game off with a homer, but a complete lack of two-out, clutch hitting left the Ducks grasping at straws in the final innings. The bullpen only allowed two runs, but with no offensive support, it proved to be two runs too many. 

Then, the response Wasikowski wanted came in Wednesday’s 16-6 stomping of GCU. Oregon exploded for five runs in both the first and second innings to build a healthy cushion. That early offensive explosion was one that Wasikowski praised. 

If Oregon can make a habit of building these early leads, I currently have enough trust in the Ducks’ bullpen to carry them the rest of the way. 

GCU and USC are both very good teams and Oregon went 4-1 against them across six days. While the guys in the clubhouse are surely disappointed with the loss, the stretch is still an undeniable success.  

The road becomes slightly easier with Minnesota and Rutgers teams on the horizon, so the next few weeks will be a great opportunity for the Ducks to distance themselves from the rest of their new conference mates. 

Ruth’s Top Three Stars

First Star: Ryan Cooney – 2B

Cooney’s nine RBIs (four in the win over GCU) earned him my top spot. With how deep Oregon is in the middle infield, he’s making it really hard for Wasikowski to take the bat out of his hands when his team becomes fully healthy. He also leads the team in sacrifice hits, a true team player that this Ducks squad loves to benefit from.

Second Star: Jason Reitz – P

Reitz made his first appearance of the season out of the bullpen against USC after being a starter throughout the Ducks’ non-conference slate. The change in roles didn’t faze him. He allowed only three hits and a walk across his four shutout innings to slam the door on the Trojans on Friday. If he moves to the bullpen full-time, he might immediately become Oregon’s best option. 

Third Star: Mason Neville – CF

Neville smacked three homers and had five RBIs over the five-game stretch. He’s established himself as the Ducks’ leadoff guy while limiting strikeouts — something that somewhat dampened his 2024 successes.

The post Ruth: From the press box: starting hot appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Oregon already had 10 runs on 10 hits before GCU finally recorded its first base hit in the third. The No. 9 Ducks (15-3, 3-0 Big Ten) scored in all but two offensive runs to rebound from Tuesday’s 4-2 loss and take a dominant 16-6 win over the Grand Canyon University Antelopes (12-5). 

Chase Meggers made his first start of the season after a finger injury kept him sidelined until this midweek series. He made an immediate impact in the first inning, driving Mason Neville (2-4, three runs)  in with a sac-fly to left field. Anson Aroz and Jeffery Heard (3-5, four RBIs) both recorded RBI singles before Ryan Cooney brought home the Ducks’ fifth run of the frame with a sac-fly of his own. 

“You just want to be able to win in a multitude of ways,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “I think we’re showing that we can do that, and that’s a positive.”

In all, Oregon tallied five runs on five hits in a long first inning to give its pitching staff some cushion in its bullpen-game effort. 

Julian Hernandez made his first start of the season on the mound for the Ducks. He kicked off a contest that would feature five Oregon pitchers with his 2.1 innings of two-hit, two-run ball. 

The Ducks weren’t done attacking GCU starter Cayden Collins.

A string of three-straight hits from the top of the Oregon lineup chased the righty from the contest and sparked a five-run second frame that featured RBI knocks from Cooney (1-3, four RBIs), Dominic Hellman (3-6, three runs, three RBIs) and Heard. Aroz (1-2, three RBIs) recorded the Ducks’ third sac fly in two innings as Oregon jumped even further ahead. 

“It was an impressive first [few innings] for sure,” Wasikowski said. 

Zach Yorke got GCU on the board in the third with a two-out double to right field. The Lopes added two more runs in the frame as they chased Hernandez from the game. Hernandez issued five free passes (four walks and a HBP), but his defense strung a pair of timely double plays together to minimize the damage to a pair of runs. 

After the third inning, Oregon led GCU 10-2 with more sacrifice flies (three) than the Lopes had total hits (two). 

The drizzly atmosphere at PK Park was a factor for both pitching staffs on Wednesday. The two squads combined for 18 free passes (15 walks and three HBPs) in the long, three-hour, 15-minute marathon. 

GCU earned a couple of runs in the fourth on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly, but Hellman evened the frame in the home half of the inning with his seventh homer of the season, a two-run shot into the Lopes’ bullpen. 

A pair of hits and a walk loaded the bases for GCU with nobody out in the top of the fifth and two runs came around before the Ducks turned their third double play to limit the damage. Oregon got one back in the sixth courtesy of a two-error inning from the Lopes. 

“There were some loose things that got away from the opposing team,” Wasikowski said. “But, I thought our team, for the most part, played pretty clean. In pieces, we didn’t pitch clean, but in pieces we did.”

The seventh inning featured the second doubles of the night for both Walsh and Heard as well as Cooney’s second sac-fly of the night. Both Cooney and Heard recorded their fourth RBIs of the game as the Ducks added a pair of unneeded insurance runs. 

“I feel good at the plate,” Heard said. “[Coach] Marder and I have kind of been working on some things recently. I didn’t get off to the start that I kind of wanted, but I think sticking with it and trusting him has gotten me here. I just got to keep building off it.”

Santiago Garcia was by far the best arm the Ducks used on Wednesday. He entered for the seventh inning and recorded two innings of one-hit, no-run ball while fanning three to earn his second win of the season.  

“When you watch him pitch, sometimes [he looks like] he can pitch in the Major Leagues,” Wasikowski said of Garcia. “He just hasn’t been consistent yet. There’s nights when he looks like he could be pitching in a big-league bullpen, though.”

A final run came across in the bottom of the eighth on an Aroz HBP to enact the rarely-used run rule. Oregon took the series split and will take a 15-3 record into its weekend series with Minnesota (7-8, 1-2 Big Ten). First pitch of Friday’s contest is set for 4:05 p.m.

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You have to do the little things right when playing good teams. 

A talented Grand Canyon University (12-4) squad came into PK Park on Tuesday for a midweek meeting with the No. 9 Ducks (14-3).

Oregon didn’t do the little things right and allowed baserunning blunders, botched pickoff attempts and a lack of timely hitting to ruin its aspirations at a 12-game winning streak. 

GCU, however, played a much cleaner game (especially in crucial moments) and earned an impressive 4-2 win.

“We didn’t get [hits] with two outs,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski. “We’ve been through the stretch where we’ve been winning. We’ve been getting [those hits] and we didn’t get [them] today.”

Everything leading up to the contest said it would be a barn-burner. Two high-powered offenses were set to face two pitching staffs that were recovering from winning three-game series the weekend prior.

So, naturally, only six runs crossed on Tuesday. Unpredictable. Funky. Baseball.

For the second time in four games, Mason Neville launched a leadoff homer to put the Ducks on the board first. He took Gunnar Penzkover’s first offering of the night out to left-center for his team-leading 10th bomb of the year. It tipped off Eddy Pelc’s glove, but trickled over the fence anyways. When Oregon starter Ian Umlandt toed the rubber for the top of the second, he already had an early lead to protect. 

Umlandt faced a two-on, one-out jam in the third, but Josh Wakefield chopped into a 4-3 double play to end the threat. Umlandt allowed three hits in his first trip through GCU’s lineup, but kept the Lopes scoreless until the seventh. 

Oregon, however, failed to add on early, stranding a pair of runners in both the second and third innings. Neville’s leadoff shot remained the contest’s lone run entering the fifth.

Penzkover’s day ended after four very good innings of work. He only threw 63 pitches and allowed just the lone run on four hits while fanning four. 

Another pair of Ducks reached in the fifth, but a Maddox Molony strikeout ended the frame. Molony stranded four in the loss.

GCU finally got to Umlandt in the sixth. His first pitch of the frame left the yard courtesy of Carson Ohland’s second homer of the season. A few pitches later, Marcus Galavan doubled to left to end Umlandt’s day. He was already at 86 pitches after six innings and the decision to stretch him into the seventh burnt Oregon right away. 

“He’d given up zero runs,” Wasikowski said of sending Umlandt out for a seventh frame.
He was throwing a shutout and his pitch count was low, that’s why we sent him back out there.”

The runner came around to score on a botched pickoff attempt from reliever Seth Mattox and GCU took the lead in its three-run seventh frame. Cole Stokes came in and immediately relented an RBI single to the Lopes’ leadoff man. Oregon used three different pitchers in the inning as the Ducks fell behind in a game for the first time since Feb 28. 

When the poor defensive outing finally ended, Umlandt’s final statline read 6.0 innings, two runs on seven hits, five strikeouts and two walks. What was a brilliant outing through six was tainted by a seventh that he arguably shouldn’t have seen. 

“He usually doesn’t beat himself,” Wasikpwski said of Umlandt. “For a midweek starter, or any starter at all, to go out there and give up one run, or no runs or two runs on an entire start, that’s a good start. He gives us that pretty much every time he [goes] out there.”

Carter Garate led off the next inning with a walk and took second on a balk, giving Oregon a great chance to respond. A Neville single could have put a pair of runners on for the Ducks, but Garate was thrown out at the plate by a mile instead, killing the rally opportunity. 

“I think that was probably a mistake,” Waskiowski said of the play at the plate. “And everybody knew that and even Coach Hinkle knew that. I’ve been over there many times and made a mistake like that… even with that, we could have still easily won the game.”

A two-out single from Jacob Walsh (2-5) brought a Neville to third, but he too would be left on the bases in what ended up being an empty frame. 

The Ducks recorded nine hits, but couldn’t find timely knocks when they needed them. Oregon stranded 11 total runners and was 5-17 with runners on base on Tuesday. 

A good piece of two-out hitting from Marcus Galvan (3-4, RBI) plated another in the eighth to increase the Lopes’ lead. His timely hitting served as somewhat of a gut punch to an Oregon team lacking the clutch hitting gene on Tuesday. 

Garate (1-3, RBI) brought the Ducks’ first run since the first inning home with a ground-rule double in the eighth to bring Oregon within two, but the hole ended up being too big as Oregon fell for the first time since Feb 21. 

There are, however, two silver linings for the Ducks. First, Chase Meggers pinch-hit in the ninth (a flyout) for his first at–bat of the season. Oregon’s primary catching option from a season ago appears to be ready to return after an injury has kept him in the dugout so far in 2025.

The other bit of good news is that the Ducks get another crack at the Lopes on Wednesday night at 4:05 p.m.

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After a 3-0 lead disappeared, the Ducks responded with two runs in the seventh inning to earn a 5-3 win over USC.

No. 10 Oregon (14-2, 3-0, Big Ten) never trailed in its series sweep of the Trojans (9-6, 0-3 Big Ten) as the Ducks won their 11th-straight contest on Sunday. 

Just as they’d done in the first two games, the Ducks struck first. Ryan Cooney (1-3, two RBIs) ripped an RBI single in the second and another run came to cross on a fluky play that featured USC’s fifth error of the series. 

USC starter Michael Ebner got the hook after Jacob Walsh doubled in the third. He went only 2.1 innings in his outing, allowing two runs on three hits while fanning five on his 54 pitches. An early pitching change turned Sunday’s contest into a bullpen game for the Trojans.

Freshman Will Sanford’s outing started much better. He only allowed one baserunner (a double from Adrian Lopez) his first time through the Trojans’ lineup while fanning five. He worked through a lot of deep counts, however, and while the Trojans had a zero on the board after three, Sanford’s pitch count sat at 58 pitches. 

Cooney added to the lead and his impressive series with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Throughout the young season, Cooney has been very good at recording team at-bats. He’s recorded a pair sacrifice bunts and three sac flies on the season. 

Sanford worked a pair of quick innings in the fourth and fifth, only needing 12 and 13 pitches respectively to somewhat level out his pitch count. But the Trojans finally got to him in the sixth. 

Brayden Dowd hit his third homer of the season with a man on to bring the Trojans within a run. After walking the next batter, Sanford’s day ended. His five spectacular scoreless frames were tainted by an ugly start to the sixth. 

Michael Meckna came in to relieve Sanford — who finished with 5.0 innings, three runs on two hits, six strikeouts and three walks — and try to protect Oregon’s one-run lead. That advantage wouldn’t make it out of the inning. Jack Basseer singled to tie the game and tagged Sanford with a third earned run. 

The Ducks — who entered Sunday’s game without a run after the fifth inning all series — now needed to respond to keep their hopes of a sweep alive, and they got one. They immediately retook the lead on Mason Neville’s team-leading ninth homer of the season. His clutch, two-strike mash put Oregon back in the driver’s seat. 

Walsh (2-5) also came around to score on an RBI single off the bat of Maddox Molony (1-3) as the Ducks’ bats strung together a clutch two-run frame. 

From there, the Oregon pen held USC scoreless for the remainder of the contest. Dowd got up again in the ninth, representing the tying run, but Ryan Featherston struck him out to end the game and earn the save. 

In all, Oregon’s bullpen combined for four innings of shutout ball, allowing just one hit and three walks in the 17 batters it faced. The Ducks’ relievers only allowed two runs all series. They were absolutely dominant. 

Oregon returns to PK for a two-game, midweek series against the Grand Canyon University Antelopes. First pitch on Tuesday is slated for 4:05 p.m.

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